1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a display device which can be used for information instruments such as a television or a personal computer, mobile terminals such as a mobile telephone or a digital book, and also cloth products such as clothes or a curtain.
2. Related Background Art
As a flexible sheet-shaped display device, there has been proposed a display device comprising display elements are embedded in fibers which are arranged in a sheet form. FIG. 5 shows a sheet-shaped display device proposed in US 2002/0050784 A1. The display device is composed of a plurality of display units. Each of the display units comprises columnar display elements 51 enclosed and sealed in a transparent hollow tube member 52. The surface of each of the display elements is divided into a plurality of regions with colors and charging states different from each other and is rotatable in the hollow tube member. The display elements rotate respectively if a drive force such as an electric field or a magnetic field is applied externally, whereby display of an image is realized. The display units are arranged side by side over the entire display region such that they are tangled in a parallel or grid shape. In addition, an electrode plate 53 for providing the drive force is provided externally to complete a display device.
In the above-mentioned conventional technique, it is necessary to connect an external member such as the electrode plate for providing a drive force to each display element. Therefore, the flexibility provided from the structure of aggregating the individual cylindrical display units is lost. In addition, the display device is manufactured by preparing the external member (electrode plate) separately from the device body and then combine them together, hence the manufacturing process being complicated.